Regency widow Lily Adler is looking forward to a quiet Christmastide away from the schemes and secrets she witnessed daily in London. Not only will she be visiting the family of her late husband; she will be reunited with Captain Jack Hartley, her friend and confidante, finally returned after a long voyage at sea. But secrets aren't only found in London. Jack's younger sister, Amelia, is the centre of neighbourhood scandal and gossip. She refuses to tell anyone what really happened, even when an unexpected snowstorm strands the neighbourhood families together after a Christmas ball. Stuck until the snow stops, the Adlers, Hartleys, and their neighbours settle in for the night, only to be awakened in the morning by the scream of a maid who has just discovered a dead body. The victim was the well-to-do son of a local gentleman - the same man whose name has become so scandalously linked to Amelia's. With the snow still falling and no way to come or go, it's clear that someone in the house was responsible for the young man's death. When suspicion instantly falls on Jack's sister, he and Lily must unmask the true culprit before Amelia is convicted of a crime she didn't commit.